Polska from Aspåker | Why do we sit so still and quiet?

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by Erik Axel Karlfeldt (1864 - 1931)

Translation © by Anna Hersey

Aspåkers‑polska

Language: Swedish (Svenska)

Our translations: ENG GER

Hvarför sitta vi så still och tysta?
Ha vi uttömt alla kära ord?
Äro alla de små läppar kyssta
som gå leende kring detta bord?
Äro alla de små kvinnor gifta
som gå trippande i denna sal?
Finns här inga hjonelag att stifta,
brinna inga hjärtan i vår dal?

- Jag skall varpa garn och jag skall nysta,
jag skall kärna smör och klippa får.
Aldrig äro mina läppar kyssta,
aldrig bliva de i detta år.
Jag skall plocka bär och väva vammal,
jag skall verka, förr'n jag blir för tung.
Om jag gifter mej, när jag blir gammal,
skall jag taga dej, om du är ung.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• W. Peterson-Berger

Note: modernized spelling causes "Hvarför" to become "Varför" (as used in the Peterson-Berger score).

Text Authorship:

by Erik Axel Karlfeldt (1864 - 1931), "Aspåkers-polska" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Wilhelm Peterson-Berger (1867 - 1942), "Aspåkers-polska", 1901, from Fridolins lustgård, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Anna Hersey) , "Polska from Aspåker", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Bertram Kottmann) , "Polska aus Aspåker", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 107

Polska from Aspåker

Language: English after the Swedish (Svenska)

Why do we sit so still and quiet?
Have we used up all words of love?
Are all the little lips kissed
that are smiling around the table?
Are all the little girls married
who go skipping around the room?
Is there no marriage union to establish here,
does no heart ring in our valley?

I will spin and wind yarn
I will churn butter and shear the sheep.
Never are my lips kissed,
never will they be kissed in these years.
I will pick berries and weave fabric,
I will work before I become too heavy.
If I marry when I am old,
I will marry you, if you are young.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Swedish (Svenska) to English copyright © 2011 by Anna Hersey, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., please ask the copyright-holder(s) directly.
Anna Hersey. Contact: hersey (DOT) anna (AT) gmail (DOT) com

If the copyright-holder(s) are unreachable for three business days, please write to: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in Swedish (Svenska) by Erik Axel Karlfeldt (1864 - 1931), "Aspåkers-polska"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2011-08-02
Line count: 16
Word count: 112